These were the colourful scenes in Berrow at the weekend when the village’s Coastal Archers hosted the fifth Somerset meeting of the British Longbow Society.
Archery enthusiasts from as far away as Kent, Cheltenham, Pembroke and Exmoor travelled to join in the event.
“The aim of the shoot was to provide a gentle, amiable atmosphere that recaptures the traditions of times gone by,” one of the organisers, Dot Rockett, told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
“Although it was raining when the targets were being set up, an hour before the tournament began the sun came out and stayed out all day,” she added.
The archers fired their first four dozen arrows from a distance of 60 yards in ends of three. The archers then walked down to the targets to score and turned round to shoot three arrows back the way they had just come, which is traditional two-way shooting.
After lunch – and a traditional sherry and biscuits – the second half of the tournament saw another four dozen arrows being fired, this time at a distance of 50 yards.
Mrs Jenny Bentley, Chairman of Berrow Parish Council, acted as the ‘Lady Paramount’ for the event, and presented the trophies and medals. She is pictured below handing the Chris Britton Memorial Award to Peggy West.
The results saw Maureen Read finish first in the ladies tournament, with Geraldine Neale in second and Janet Hudson in third. Jim Dodd won the gents competition, with the runner-up being Ian Pearce and Andy Oakes in third.
The prize for best junior gent went to Harry Foster, while best gold was won by Catherine Fletcher. The award for the worst white went to Christine Brookes, while TJ Green was presented with the Tim Pattermore Conservation Award and the Chris Britton Memorial Award was collected by Peggy West.
The Coastal Archers meet at Red Road Playing Fields in Berrow on Monday and Thursday evenings during the summer. They cater for both competitive archers and recreational archers, and have members shooting recurve, compound, longbow, and flatbows. Anyone interested can either visit the group’s website or call 01934 516293.
The full line-up of prize winners at the weekend event in Berrow
